I don’t think there are a lot of people who have been working in Biglaw for only four years and are sitting on a portable book of business. But, if you are, this Craigslist posting may be for you:

ATTORNEYS WITH BOOK OF BUSINESS ONLY! NYC (Midtown)

I am starting my own law firm, and will be soon opening my law firm based in downtown NY, I am currently the head of a corporate group at a large fim and I seek entrepreneurial attorneys (attorneys ONLY) to join as either potential partners or for Of Counsel positions to help establish presence in New York, and other major markets. Only attorneys already admitted in NY may apply.

The law firm is seeking lawyers with experience in a range of different practice areas, principally in Securities, Capital Markets, FINRA Arbitration and Securities litigation, also including, but not limited to, general corporate, real estate, tax, energy, tort , intellectual property (including patent, trademark, copyright and technology licensing), white collar criminal defense, litigation, commercial litigation, international and/or labor & employment law.

Successful candidates will have self-sustaining practices as well as a strong desire to work in a collegial, collaborative, flexible and entrepreneurial environment law firm or become part of building their own firm as Of Counsels or join our starting firm benefiting from large marketing, the ability to show prospective clients that they are with a large firm rather than sole practitioneers and cross refer business clients and retain their relations with their clients and increase their portofolio.

Don’t you usually look for a professional headhunter to fill a position like this? I just can’t imagine a person with a self-sustaining practice looking to lateral over Craigslist.

Then again, check out the minimum qualifications. The candidate this firm is looking for might not exist.

We’ve been extensively chronicling salary cuts for associates. One consistent firm rationale for cutting salaries is that firm clients are no longer willing to pay for junior associates. The consistent counter-argument is that clients don’t care what associates get paid, clients care about what clients are charged.

Unfortunately, there has been precious little information about what law firms are doing to reduce their billing rates. It seems that firms want to get the information out that they are cutting the salaries of their attorneys, but do not wish to discuss what they are charging their clients.

Today, Incisive Legal Intelligence released its 2009 Billing Rates and Practices Survey Report. Unfortunately, you have to pay for it. But here is the top-line summary from the press release:

The average hourly billing rate reported was $284. Nationally, plaintiffs’ contingency litigation is the practice area with the highest average hourly billing rate ($413), followed by labor/employment ($302), general law ($295) and real estate/land use ($294). The billing rate survey data represents a sample of more than 14,000 lawyers throughout the 50 United States, drawn from responses from 255 law firms.

More notes from the report, after the jump.

The second quarter’s Managing Partner Confidence Index is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that the managing partners at the nation’s law firms are more confident than they were last quarter. The bad news is that managing partners overall are still expressing “negative” confidence — and that could lead to fresh layoffs in over the next six months. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports the good news:

The good news: the overall confidence index was up 23 points to 91. We’re still in “negative” territory, but only slightly. Summarizes Citi’s Mark Costiglio: “Managing partners are much less pessimistic about the broader economy and the legal market, and there’s a sense that the worst is behind them.”

And the bad news:

The not-so-goods: Expenses. MPs continue, it seems, to fret over expenses, especially lawyer compensation. And that, LBers, could lead to a continuation of the parade of horribles: layoffs, hiring-freezes, salary-cuts and the like.

After the jump, the Managing Partner Confidence Index executive summary points out the ugly news.

Earlier this week, we reported on staff layoffs at Paul Hastings. Since Lehman collapsed, Paul Hastings has been through few rounds of attorney layoffs as well.

But Paul Hastings partners haven’t exactly been sitting back and counting cash. Especially younger partners. Above the Law has been able to confirm that a number of partners have been de-equitized since the beginning of the global financial crisis.

Our sources didn’t have overall numbers. But, one tipster put it like this:

You should cover what is going on at Paul Hastings … don’t forget that things are sh**** for jr. partners too.

No doubt.

But according to Paul Hastings spokespeople, the only thing happening at Paul Hastings is “business as usual.”

More details after the jump.

Our new Career Center, brought to you by ATL and Lateral Link, continues to gain momentum. Traffic to the center has been growing steadily since its launch last month.

Recently we shared with you the top ten most-viewed profiles. We update that list after the jump. As you’ll see, there hasn’t been much movement in the top 10 since last week. Quinn Emanuel retains the top spot — perhaps not surprisingly, in light of recent events. Check out how Google searches for “Quinn Emanuel” have spiked in the past week.

Today we’d like to highlight a different feature of the Career Center: Firm Comparisons. Accessing it requires registration, but registering is free and easy. You can then compare law firms on various metrics, including compensation, the associate experience, billable hours, vacation policy, and partnership prospects.

Let’s use partnership prospects as an example. Here is how the top nine firms, ranked by how often their profiles are viewed, stack up:

Quinn:
# 57% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 42% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work

Skadden:
# 64% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work
# 21% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 14% There is virtually no chance, don’t even try

O’Melveny:
# 50% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 50% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work

Cravath:
# 66% There is virtually no chance, don’t even try
# 33% It is an achievable goal if you work for it

Kirkland & Ellis
# 40% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work
# 40% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 18% There is virtually no chance, don’t even try

Jones Day
# 66% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 33% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work

Sullivan & Cromwell:
# 88% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work
# 11% There is virtually no chance, don’t even try

Cleary Gottlieb:
# 50% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 33% There is virtually no chance, don’t even try
# 16% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work

Akin Gump:
# 45% It is a longshot no matter how hard you work
# 45% It is an achievable goal if you work for it
# 09% There is virtually no chance, don’t even try

There wasn’t enough data for the missing member of the top ten — our former firm, Wachtell Lipton. But with a one-to-one partner to associate ratio, WLRK partnership prospects are pretty decent (by Biglaw standards).

An updated list of the most popular firm profiles, after the jump.

As we’ve been reporting on layoffs, salary freezes and salary cuts, some disgruntled associates have suggested in the comments that partners should share more in the pain. Well, they are. In addition to PPP taking a hit due to revenue declining, de-equitizing partners now seems to be an option (and is rumored to have already happened at Jenner & Block, for example).

Barton J. Winokur, chairman and CEO of Dechert, is stepping up to the pain plate voluntarily. The firm has laid off attorneys and staff in the past few months, but firm leaders have taken a hit too. Winokur, for example, is taking a $1 million pay cut, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Winokur disclosed the self-imposed pay cut, actually a reduction in his draw from firm profits, at a super-secret gathering of big-firm leaders organized by Thomson Reuters in Pebble Beach, Calif., in late April.

Typically, there is no press at this yearly conclave. An absence of publicity ensures its near-invisibility - and the candor of law-firm leaders, which Winokur apparently supplied in abundance.

In addition to his salary cut, Winokur emphasized that other Dechert leaders had taken similar hits.

The Inquirer points out though that Winokur took home $8 million the year before. But, hey, a 12 percent pay cut is still pretty substantial. And $1 million will probably be a larger percentage of his total take home this year as it’s not likely to be as good as last year. The first fiscal quarter was an ugly one.

Law Review: A law-firm CEO cuts his own pay [Philadelphia Inquirer]

So far, law firm partnerships have put on a unified front about the cost cutting measures that need to be taken during this economic crisis. When it comes time to layoff associates or cut salaries, partners look like a monolithic group.

But law firm partners do not all think with one mind. And the cracks are beginning to show.

Back in October, Jenner & Block asked 10 partners to leave. But the latest reports out of Jenner suggest that the firm is not only asking some partners to leave, management is outright de-equitizing partners as well. A tipster reports:

Management just voted themselves massive raises while cutting the points of partners who are not politically connected. More significantly, over the last few days, management is going office to office de-equitizing and partially de-equitizing tons of partners in an effort to raise the profits per partner number. Those partners who are being de-equitized are no different than those who are permitted to keep their equity except those whose status remained intact have friends on management.

Above the Law asked Jenner spokespeople about these specific allegations. We received this response:

The quote … is inaccurate. However, as a matter of policy, we do not publicly comment on individual personnel matters.

But additional sources corroborate the reports that Jenner partners are being de-equitized.

More details after the jump.